Today I toured around the city with an aunt, uncle and cousins who came to visit me.

Is there a shorter word/expression that unambiguously refers to my aunt, uncle and cousins?

I am aware of relatives, but this is not unambiguous. So, if I say relatives, someone might feel the need to ask for further clarification, for instance, if it was my nuclear family who came to visit me.

I've heard the expression second-degree relatives to be an in-between from immediate family to distant relatives, but I don't think it's specific to aunts, uncles, and cousins. For one, grandparents are generally included; secondly, there are no clear cut-offs in terms of closeness of the cousins (first cousin versus second cousin, etc.) before one becomes a distant relative.
– Stu WJul 24 '17 at 12:39

1

@luchonacho I can't say for certain that there is absolutely no such word or phrase, but I very much doubt there is one. 'In-laws' captures just parents and siblings of one's spouse, but I can't think of an analogous single word/phrase for blood relatives that are a single or double step away. 'aunts/uncles/cousins' works good enough.
– MitchJul 24 '17 at 13:16

@Scath that is not a duplicate question. That question asks only about one's parent's siblings, not one's cousins too, and also that question is specifically about a gender neutral version for aunt uncle and this question does not mention gender.
– MitchJul 24 '17 at 21:17

4 Answers
4

Short Answer

No.

Long Answer

There isn't actually any suitable idiomatic word/phrase that's pretty common and casual and can be used in day-to-day conversations and writings. None of the other answers address this. Your context gives the impression that it's a normal piece of writing. Second-degree relatives, extended family, whatever you say— they're technical terms and don't even specify that it's your aunt, uncle, and cousins and not your grandparents. Most people will not get you easily and it'll probably make you sound awkward or nerdy.

The word you want is just too too specific. Just say it—my aunt, uncle, and cousins. What's wrong with that? It doesn't do to be lazy and sloppy in writing.

In fact, people will like hearing more about them. Describe them better if you can. It'll give you a topic to talk on, triggering conversations. Short, concise, to-the-point writing is for academia.

X: You know, my aunt, uncle, and my cousins came to see me yesterday. I toured around the city with them.Y: Oh, cool! It must have been exciting. Did you have fun?X: Yes, my cousins are such cuties. Amanda's 5 and she...

On a second note,

you might consider — my aunt and her family or my aunt's family. Personally, I like the former better:

Today I toured around the city with my aunt and her family who came to visit me.

An aunt sounds odd to me. You don't need to hint that you have more aunts and it's just one of them. It's your aunt and not somebody else's — that's more important to focus on.

Hard-hitting answer @ Soha Farhin Pine which makes the pertinent point that for many single-word requests there is no answer. Why people are reluctant to say so if it is true? Though I saw this answer only today (so late) I am glad that you have put the bell on the cat, cut the Gordian knot and basically created a new type of answer for single-word-requests. It makes me feel so proud of you. Will @PinkyTune be writing questions and answers here?
– English StudentSep 17 '17 at 9:38

I would take "extended family" to refer to cases of re-marriage or possibly family for whom the connection to you is via a sibling's spouse. In other words, no blood relation. Aunts and uncles and cousins are just plain "family".
– CCTOJul 24 '17 at 17:18

3

@CCTO It might be regional (NorthEast US) then. I've only ever heard "Extended Family" to refer to relatives that are not your parents/siblings (who would collectively be referred to as your "immediate family")
– reffuJul 24 '17 at 17:49

This depends if the aunt/uncle is by marriage or blood. I would not call them "extended" if they are blood relatives, only if they are by marriage. And even then "extended family" would refer to everyone on my partner's side of the family which could be dozens of families.
– OctopusJul 24 '17 at 21:45

A better expressions would be "My aunt/uncle and her/his family" which implies my aunt or uncle and their immediate family. You could use "mother's family" or "father's family", although this could refer to their parent, grandparents etc..

Edit: I use this myself - when my wife's brother comes to England from the US with his wife and children, I say that "We spent the day with my brother-in-law and his family".

If the aunt is your blood relative of your father, then, "My father's sister's family", gets us to four words and reduces ambiguity by turning the sentence into a directed graph of your family tree. If you really want short, "With Kin." is about as short as you can get, but you compromise on precision.

Technically your aunt is your first cousin-once-removed, so "With cousins" is a tie for short, (in words if not letters) but again fails on the ambiguity front.

Its up to you to balance precision and accuracy, depending on your audience.

Thank you for your interest in this question.
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